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Preparedness for Mass Casualty Incidents: The Effectiveness of Current Training Model

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  29 October 2021

Seema Biswas ,
Hany Bahouth ,
Evgeny Solomonov ,
Igor Waksman ,
Michael Halberthal  and
Miklosh Bala
Seema Biswas
Affiliation:
Department of Surgery B, Galilee Medical Center, Nahariya, Israel
Hany Bahouth
Affiliation:
Department of Trauma & Emergency Surgery, Rambam Health Care Campus, Haifa, Israel
Evgeny Solomonov
Affiliation:
Department of Surgery, Ziv Medical Center, Safed, Israel
Igor Waksman
Affiliation:
Department of Surgery B, Galilee Medical Center, Nahariya, Israel
Michael Halberthal
Affiliation:
Directorate, Rambam Health Care Campus, Haifa, Israel
Miklosh Bala*
Affiliation:
General Surgery and Trauma Unit, Hadassah Hebrew University Medical Center, Jerusalem, Israel
*
Corresponding author: Miklosh Bala, Email: [email protected].
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Abstract

The importance of MCI organization and training was highlighted by the events of September 11, 2001. Training focuses on the management of physical injuries caused by a single traumatic event over a well-defined, relatively short timeframe. MCI management is integrated into surgical and trauma training, with disaster management training involving the emergency services, law enforcement, and state infrastructure agencies. The COVID-19 pandemic revealed gaps in the preparedness of nation states and global partners in disaster management. The questions that arose include ‘has training really prepared us for an actual emergency,’ ‘what changes need to be made to training to make it more effective,’ and ‘who else should training be extended to?’ This article focuses on the importance of involving multiple sectors in mass casualty training and asks whether greater involvement of non-medical agencies and the public, in operational drills might improve preparedness for global events such as the COVID-19 pandemic.

Keywords

Mass casualty incidentsdisaster medicineemergency medical servicesemergency preparednesstrauma centers
Type
Concepts in Disaster Medicine
Information
Disaster Medicine and Public Health Preparedness , Volume 16 , Issue 5 , October 2022 , pp. 2120 - 2128
Copyright
© The Author(s), 2021. Published by Cambridge University Press on behalf of Society for Disaster Medicine and Public Health, Inc.

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